RALEIGH, N.C. — WakeEd Partnership honored Wake County’s Stars of Education on last Wednesday, October 30th, at its annual gala event at the Raleigh Convention Center.

WakeEd Partnership is honored Representative Rosa Gill with this year’s Vernon Malone Friend of Education Award presented by the YMCA of the Triangle. Gill, who is not seeking reelection this year after 7 terms in the North Carolina House, is being honored for decades of leadership and public service for the children of Wake County including 20 years in the classroom, 10 years on the Wake County Board of Education and 15 years in the General Assembly. Since 1990, this award has been presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to public education and shares the qualities of the late Senator Vernon Malone, who advocated tirelessly for every child to have equitable opportunities.

“Rosa Gill has been a positive force for our public schools for decades, first as a classroom teacher, then serving in leadership on the Wake County Board of Education, and the last 15 years fighting for public education and children’s issues at the North Carolina General Assembly,” said Keith Poston, President, WakeEd Partnership. “Rosa Gill has literally seen it all and given her all for the children of Wake County and we’ve been so blessed as a state to have visionary leaders like Rosa Gill who understand the transformative and foundational power of public schools.”

Six honorees joined the Wake County Public School System Hall of Fame. Since 2013, the WCPSS Hall of Fame has recognized individuals who have made an impact locally in the categories of Arts, Athletics, Business, Community Service, Education, and Entrepreneurship.

The Class of 2024 inductees are:

Arts | Sara Maria Blanton, Founder & Executive Director, Raleigh Music Collective
Athletics | Mark Indermaur, Founder, Indermaur Chess Foundation
Business | Brad Wilson, Former President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
Community Service | Barb Walsh, Founder & Executive Director, Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina
Education | Dr. Valencia Hicks-Harris, Founder & Executive Director, Empower All, Inc.
Entrepreneurship | Community Workforce Solutions

Last year WakeEd Partnership announced the creation of a new teacher award for one Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) teacher – the “Star Among Us” Award; and the creation of a new student award for one WCPSS senior high school student – the “Emerging Star” Award. Both awards include a $5,000 prize for each recipient and were presented at the Stars of Education Gala.

The “Emerging Star” Award was presented this year by Wolfspeed to Nabiha Rahman. Nabiha is a rising senior at Green Hope High School in Cary, NC. Students were nominated by their administrative staff, with input from teachers and other staff members across WCPSS’s high schools. There were 37 nominations in total, with 12 finalists including Ms. Rahman.

The “Star Among Us” Award was presented this year by Equitable to Bugg Magnet Elementary’s Aneesa McKenzie-Thompson. Teachers were nominated through an open-community nomination process. During this time, over 200 nominations from across the district were submitted. Teachers nominated self-selected to participate further in the process. In the end, 9 finalists were selected including Ms. McKenzie-Thompson.